Downhill

Hey there Boulder.

By get into Down Hill do you mean socially or race?

Either way a hard tail is fine to start on

Racewise you'll need a standards approved full face helmet. These are a good investment for social riding too. They maybe expensive (Starting at around $120)but they are a lot cheaper than a dentist bill.

Knee/shin guards come in handy and body armour is recommended. If your budget stretches enough a neck protector would also be recommended

Really depends on where and when I'm riding as to whether I go with the body armour and I certainly didn't have it when I first started.

No experience is necessary, you get that as you go. You'll find most trails have "b" lines around the hard opstacles and there is no shame in walking a section if you need to.

Go easy at first and ride within your limits, pushing them only as you get comfortable.

In race situations most young beginners get a bit excited and try to push too hard first off. Just remember you can't win if you crash in the first corner.

WSMTB, CCOMBC, HMBA and CTMBC all have fairly active DH programs. The HMBA track at Awaba is undoubtably the hardest. Ourimbah used by CCO is mid range. WS have a few different trails

WS also do beginner days and social ride and have helmets and armour you can hire for that. http://www.wsmtb.com/

The courses we (CTMBC) use at Lidsdale are perfect for beginners if you can make it out this far. they are nowher near as technical as the other but are a bit of funn

For starters, you can use a hardtail bike. For the moment, do we assume you are proficient on a bike, in terms of riding over technical obstacles, down rocky hills, etc? If so, that makes things easier. If you are a noob rider, I would suggest riding Manly Dam for a few months to get some more proficiency.

Bike -
If you can see yourself getting totally into DH riding, then go all the way and get a tops bike. If you are really only testing the waters, you probably will want to ride the bike you have for a while longer, or maybe purchase something more intermediate (i.e. cheaper) before you blow thousands on this caper. You can eventually purchase a decent DH/FR dual suspension (dualie) bike for about $2500. Even Flynny in Lithgow can sell you one of those. (there you go Craig, flogging new business for 'ya!). Otherwise, get a used one. There is no problem with that, heaps of people purchase used bikes all the time. You can pick up decent used bikes in this range for between $500 (crappy) to $2000 (great!). Just remember the parts is what makes the bike good or not. Unless the frame has broken, of course.

Protection -
Helmet: Get an Australian Standard full face helmet. You can probably do with a XC helmet for a while, but only if you are not riding too hard. Once you get beyond a certain point, get a full-face. Decent ones are about $100-$200, but really good ones are about $250-$500. That's $A. A bit cheaper if you purchase OS online. But I would recommend you buy in a store and get it fitted to your melon.

Suit: You can get away with not wearing pressure suit/body armour for a while. You will find you ride conservatively because of this. Once you are hucking it off some bigger stuff, or particularly as your speed down a trail increases, you probably need this. You can get a full body suit (top, bottom) or a torso suit. Spend about $100-$200 on this. My 661 torso suit was $160 on special from Torpedo7. A bargain!!

Pads: If you don't get a pressure suit for a while, you will need elbow and knee/shin armour. Fox 'Launch' or Troy Lee Designs 'Lopes' armour is great. But Race Face, UFO and a few other manufacturers make this stuff too, and it is all good. If you are only doing DH, then any is probably good. If you are doing some XC riding too, make sure you purchase something that fits you well as you can get lots of chaffing where the ill-fitting parts are. Spend about $100 for the wing armour, about $100-150 for the leg armour. My recommendation would be to get leg armounr that incorporates shin protection too, particularly if you do not ride clipped in. Even so, sticks and rocks are more than a match for bone when you stack it.

Gloves: are fine whether XC or DH style. DH introduces thinner palm material for 'feel', while some also have carbon/plastic knuckle protectors on them. Get whatever you feel is important. The more you stack it, the more protection you will likely need for your hands. Spend about $50-$100 on this.

Tyres: Possibly you may want to add dual ply tyres to your rig, as these are far less likely to puncture. A lot of the DH specific tyres come in dual ply casing, in the 2.35 variety, so try those. They tend to have a more aggressive, fat, blocky tread pattern to ensure you have maximum tread depth for puncture protection and also for gripping well in loose/wet conditions.

Places -
There is a semi-legal trail (how's that for covering your bases!!) at Oxford Falls which you can try, but I would add that to the menu only after you are comfortable jumping (hucking) off stuff that is in the 4-6 foot region. That may be beyong your skill level at the mo. Menai / Lucas Heights has some stuff to do that is pretty good, but you would have to find it. The trails are not entirely legal and most of the building of DH trails is not legal. Otherwise, the best other local ride that is legal is Ourimbah, near Gosford.

That's it for now. My fingers hurt.

you have Private health cover as well. My mate got air lifted out of Red Hill yesterday by chopper and needs surgery.

I have had 3 lots of Surgery as well and it is bloody expensive!

"(there you go Craig, flogging new business for 'ya!)"

One free back slap coming your way

"Protection -
Helmet: Get an Australian Standard full face helmet." Just a note on that. Not many FF helmets are Aussie standards approved as yet because the Standard is geared toward road riding and doesn't rate a crash at speed anyway so the international standards are tougher. (although more and more brands are seeking out the standard compliance sticker)

Current MTBA rules for DH helmets is Aus standard or International Equivalent

He dislocated and broke his elbow on one of the freeride tracks. Ask Gazza about that one, looked very painful. They couldn't carry him out so they brought in the chopper!!